Telemedicine set to SMS blood pressure report to doctor

Soon, blood pressure patients in Chandigarh (India) would be able to send their blood pressure reports to doctors’ cell phone via SMS with the help of mobile handset. PGI, Chandigarh will soon launch a Bluetooth-enabled cellphones, which can transfer physiological data from a measuring device to a doctor’s cellphone. The revolutionary technique is a part of the three-year telemedicine project at PGI, which is funded by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Both the measuring device and the cellphone will be provided to health workers in the community. The institute will be buying measuring devices for blood pressure, blood sugar, electrocardiogram (ECG) for heart patients and spirometer for patients suffering from respiratory problems. The software in the phones also enables them to generate graphs and provide a comparative study of a few days/weeks data. The telemedicine project involves health workers going into the community and taking services to the patient’s doorsteps.